Customer Reviews

Darkness on the Edge of Town

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Forget "Born to Run". Forget "Born In the USA". Forget it all for a little while. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" stands alone as Bruce's truly defining album. It is his first foray into the dark side of life. It is the place where the characters in "BTR" ended up--a roadblock on Bruce's long highway. His optimism has waned and his perspective is bleak. Bruce is no longer lookiing through the eyes of a teenage rebel with a dream.

Despite the legal battles behind the scenes of this album that were quite the catalyst for his descent into darkness, it seems like it was the only logical way to go after embarking on the hopeful escapes in his first three albums. It was the natural progression of his maturity into the music. I would be so bold to say that without this record, Bruce Springsteen may have never reached the heights that this newfound lease on life provided him.

But...enough with my take on the importance of "Darkness...". The songs speak for themselves on this record. I think the best track is "The Promised Land" because it is like the workingman's anthem, so to speak. It is Bruce declaring that even though he is living a desolate, machine-like existence just to get by in the cruel world, he still holds on to the dreams of the promised land. Another favorite of mine on the album is the title track. His passion in this particular song you can feel in your veins...literally.

But...the showstopper track has to be "Racing in the Street." When I first heard this heartwrenching masterpiece, it gave me chills. I do believe that it is probably the most painfully beautiful song I have ever heard. The reality of it will floor you alone.

Overall, the anguish of Bruce on this record can be heard in every track. From the understated cynicism, to his angered and wounded cries and shrieks, this record is a MUST OWN.

This is one of the most powerful albums I have ever heard. I didn't get Bruce in younger days. Back in the 80's I was only interested in heavy metal and it wasn't until my early twentys when I began to expand my musical horizons that I understood the Boss. These songs take on a whole nother meaning now. A couple of years ago I remember making my hour long trip to work where I supervised a department that due to layoffs was overworked and I was catching heat for the work not getting done from corporate and worried about getting laid off myself. (It was a lot like the movie Office Space) I felt like I was fighting a losing battle and Badlands and Promised Land literally gave me the strength to go into the building. Sounds corny but listening to this CD was like a religous experience. Even though there is uncertainty and darkness in these songs there is still a sense of hope. Thanks for the inspiration Bruce.

I had a lot of anger toward my family at the time I was listening to this album, and it helped me to find expression to what I was feeling. Especially songs like "Adam Raised a Cain," "Badlands," "Darkness on the Edge of Town," and "Streets of Fire." Springsteen's music reflects the sense of anger (check out the searing guitar work on "Adam Raised a Cain" and "Streets of Fire"), but the album also has the same hopeful optimism that eventually, things are gonna work out right. This comes through particularly well on "The Promised Land," and "Badlands." It's not your typical Springsteen album - he's never rocked this hard before or since - but it's a great statement of fiery determination.

Let me start off by stating that I don't think there can be much argument that 'Born to Run' and 'Darkness on the Edge of Town', to this day, stand as Bruce's two finest recorded achievements. Par none. However, like all great art, their excellence is measured in different ways. 'Born to Run' was almost like a grand opera -- it contained songs that talked about finding redemption by escaping, chasing dreams, and romanticized the streets and urban toughness. It was kind of like 'West Side Story' meets Phil Spector, and its grandeur reached its peak with the title track; one of the greatest rock anthems of all time.

'Darkness on the Edge of Town', on the other hand, states in no uncertain terms that life will never be easy for many, many people out there. Escapism is again present in songs like "Something in the Night" and "Racing in the Street", but this time its an escapism not of romantic qualities but of fear and loneliness, trying to find some sort of meaning in an empty existence. The title track puts forward a man who is essentially stripped bare - he's lost his romantic companion, his posessions, his home...but not his willingness to fight back. He's maintained his inner pride. And that's what is so inspirational and moving about 'Darkness' - for every song of defeatism like "Factory", there's an anthem like "Badlands" or "The Promised Land" that says essentially that no matter how hard or bad things get, you can fight back because you have NOT lost your pride or soul. When I have reached low points in my own life, 'Darkness' is an album that I frequently turn to because it offers more answers and good will than any form of therapy would.

After this album was released, Bruce and the E Street Band embarked on what could very well be the greatest rock 'n roll tour of all time...it was the one that established Bruce as one of the best live performers ever. Bruce and the band went on to release several other excellent albums, but the period of 1975 through 1978 was a very special one for these guys because they almost single-handedly saved American rock from irrelevance. No better example of that can be shown than on 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'. Buy it...it WILL become one of the essential soundtracks to your life.

It is hard to put in words how great this album is. How does a legend like Bruce top such a great album as "Born to Run"? By making an album that is perfect. Darkness kicks into gear with the first cut, "Badlands," a moving and dynamic Springsteen classic. The remarkable cuts keep coming, with such classics as "Candy's Room." Heck, every cut on this album is a classic. Just talking about it makes me want to pull it out and pop it in the CD player. Come to think of it, see ya.

My older brother's the Springsteen fan--me, I like him, but I'm more your average Clash/Husker Du/Sonic Youth fan. My brother once told me that Bruce would make a hit album ("Born To Run), then fall back and regroup ("Darkness"), make another hit album ("The River"), fall back ("Nebraska"), and it's amazing how true this is. He started that pattern with this album, probably my favorite of his albums due to the work the listener has to undertake to fully appreciate it. This doesn't make it an inaccessable album--on the contrary, tunes such as "Badlands," "Candy's Room" and "Promised Land" rock as hard as anything he's ever recorded, but the more introspective tunes are what make this album special, particularly the two last ones, "Prove It All Night" (one tough song) and the haunting "Darkness On The Edge Of Town." Fans who discovered Springsteen when "Born In The U.S.A." came out may not fully appreciate this one, but for even the casual fan, this album is as indispensable as his more popular ones.

In this album, Springsteen's characters are no longer looking to escape their problems, they've giving up escape a long time ago. They are searching for answers to the siutaions they find themselves in. Optimism has been replaced by despair and cynism. "Badlands" is an angry anthem about never being statisfied with where you are in life. "Adam Raised A Cain" is about the struggles between a father and his angry son and "Factory" is about the drudergy of everyday life. Songs like "Something In The Night", "The Promised Land" and "Racing In The Streets" are about chasing a dream that one will probably never find. "Candy's Room", "Streets Of Fire" & "Prove It All Night" are about putting everything on the line for someone and having to constantly prove their devotion. The title song best sums up the album. People are looking for answers to the same questions, willing to pay the cost, but never find them. No matter how much time they search into the Darkness On The Edge Of Town, they end up in the same place.

Not as upbeat or pop-friendly as "Born In The USA", "Darkness" is nevertheless one of the finest things in Bruce Springsteen's catalogue.
It is almost like a concept album, ten little story-songs about hope and hard times among working class youth who only have a little and aren't even sure of keeping that.

Songs like "Badlands", "The Promised Land" and the somber title track are among Springsteen's very best, and "Darkness" is an unusually strong and varied rock n' roll record. If you only know Springsteen from the radio, or if you're only familiar with his later material, take your buddy Ron's advise and pick up this gritty 1978 album.
And don't forget to read the hilarious "review" by that weirdo who calls himself "Ramses the Great" either. Man, he must be one bitter and lonely dude, eh? He even has five different usernames so he can vote for his own "reviews" five times.
It's tough when all you have in your life is G. Gordon Liddy's radio show on tape.
Head shots! Head shots!

The international fame and fortune, rapidly expanding fanbase, and almost univeral praise that Born To Run brought Bruce Springsteen were followed by a protracted legal battle with his former manager, during which he was not allowed to record. When he finally exploded back onto the scene three years later with this album, it was apparent that a very different Springsteen had emerged. The colorful, playful, and occasionally light-hearted romanticism that dominated the thematic content of his first three albums had completely disappeared here. On Born To Run, Springsteen had begun to turn away from the sometimes carefree saccharine sentiments expressed on his first two albums, but on Darkness, for the first time, he began exploring what was, for him, a new and emboldened theme: the darker, often-overlooked underside of the American dream -- an area that has remained his primary territory throughout the rest of his career. This album is often cast as downtrodden and somewhat gloomy, and it certainly was at the time of release; in hindsight, since most of Bruce's subsequent material deals with even more bleak and hopeless themes, it seems hard to understand all of the attention paid to that aspect of the album. At the time, however, it was perceived as nothing less than a shock: Sprinsteen, who had previously been the celebrated chronicler of the rebellious teenager seeking the American dream, writes here instead about the people for whom the dream has turned out to be hollow. That said, although a generally dark atmosphere pervades the record, it is not, as later albums would be, lacking optimism and completely devoid of hope. Though its characters are in grim situations, they, for the most part, realize that there is something better out there, something to hope and reach for -- whether it be The Promised Land or merely that mysterious Something In The Night. The E Street Band matches Springsteen's fiery songs with the hardest-rocking backbed Bruce has had before or since. Max Wineberg's drums positively thunder on the driving Candy's Room and the guitar-playing on Adam Raised A Cain is fiery and inspired. The music perfectly matches and enchances the music in what makes for a solid, refined rock album. Highlights include the driving, anthemic opening track, Badlands; the aforementioned Adam Raised A Cane; the somber, stripped-down Racing In The Street, one of Mr. Springsteen's finest songs; and the title track. An album that many place among Bruce's best, Darkness On The Edge of Town is an essential purchase for the serious Springsteen fan.

The best record Sprinsgteen ever made. "Well", you say, "it's got some pretty lofty company don't you think?"

That it does. But you know what? If you really listen to this one a few times, I don't think it's such a difficult choice to make. Chances are, few of us who say this would have said so the first time around. This isn't a record that kicks the front door in and flings the expensive china at the walls in the way that Born to Run did. DOTEOT is much more subtle, much more grown-up, much quieter, and about a thousand times as lethal.

One is almost at a loss for words to describe the sheer emotional impact of this record; it's as if Springsteen did 30 years of living instead of the three since Born to Run was made.
Not only is it a much more understated work musically, but the joyous optimism that permeated Born to Run is absent in spades. The main theme running through this record is regret - at times so palpable you think you're drowning in it. Regret, anger, failure, loneliness, dashed hopes - but never done in a maudlin or overblown way.

I'd like to just briefly talk about the songs - and apologies if some of the previous reviewers have said the same things, but if so then it bears repeating:

1. "Badlands" - not much to say other than it's another classic anthem we all know. You'll notice the much lower-key approach as compared with songs like "Thunder Road or "Born to Run".

2. "Adam Raised a Cain" - tough, hard-rocking song about the frictions between father & son. "You're born into this life paying for the sins of somebody else's past, Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain, now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame". ouch.

3. "Something in the Night" - starts with an absolutely gorgeous, wistful piano figure from Bittan. The one gripe I have with this song is Weinberg's drumming - the song's pace is stately enough, and Max seems intent on slowing it down even further. I really didn't care at all for the protracted roll that all but ruins the beginning, either. All is forgiven at the end though, when the opening piano figure is reprised over Bruce's heartfelt "wawwwwwwww" in the background. More brilliant lyrics about the pain of regret and powerlessness. One of Bruce's greatest compositions that falls just short of being a great song.

4. "Candy's Room" - all I can think is that Bruce must have had a chuckle when he wrote this one - but he sure seems to be singing it with a straight face. Who knows? Even the so-called "comic relief" songs on this record bite!

5. "Racing In the Street" - the jewel of the record and one of the most poignant, heartbreaking songs ever written by Bruce, or by anybody on God's green earth. A momument to regret, to having blown it and knowing it full well, to "if only, if only, if only". I'd bet the bank that this song has made many a tough guy totally break down. The band is absolutely perfect in every way, right down to the fade.

6. "Promised Land" - see my Badlands comment. Lyrically, a ray of light and hope but still nowhere near as exuberant as before.

7. "Factory" - another very understated lament. Doesn't sound like much of anything at all the first few times until the anguished lyrics really sink in, particularly the last verse.

8. "Streets of Fire" - more weary regret, and in my opinion a clear foreshadowing of the protagonist of the song "Born in the USA'. Great lyrics as always but not the most memorable tune.

9. "Prove it All Night" - possibly the most lightweight thing on the record. I won't say "throwaway" because after all it was the hit single, and the chorus is actually damned catchy. Just when you think you've got a nice little pop song, the final verse throws a pretty good right cross.

10. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" - the perfect way to end the record, with its "I'll go down, but I'll go down fighting" sentiment. The protagonist of the song knows he's already lost everything, but:

"Tonight I'll be on that hill 'cos I can't stop
I'll be on that hill with everything I got
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness at the edge of town"

And here ends one of the most powerful works of music by anyone, anytime, anywhere. There's not much else to say.